The present invention relates to portable toothbrushes, and in particular to self-contained pneumatic-operated toothbrushes that utilized pressured fluids to move bristles and/or to spray water to aid a user brushing, cleaning and/or rinsing their teeth.
The ability for a user to clean their teeth with a typical toothbrush relies solely on the brushing technique of the user. Various cleaning instruments, such as electric toothbrushes have been provided to augment the brushing such that the ability to clean relies less on the user""s technique to clean their teeth. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,693; U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,534, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,312, provide for electric/mechanical toothbrushes, which help augment the brushing technique. These mechanical toothbrushes commonly use a DC motor to rotate or move bristles such that a user holding the toothbrush over their teeth will be able to allow the mechanical toothbrush to do most of the work for them. However, these mechanical toothbrushes far short of providing an inexpensive means of replacing non-mechanical toothbrushes. Also, since mechanical toothbrushes are typically more expensive then non-mechanical toothbrushes, mechanical toothbrushes usually employ removable heads that may be replaced when worn or utilize replaceable batteries. In yet other prior art mechanical toothbrushes, the motors or batteries can be charged by a conventional power cord that may be inserted into a typical inlet; such as the mechanical toothbrush disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,795. However, without access to an inlet, these mechanical toothbrushes will not receive any power to function properly.
Other mechanical toothbrushes have been provided in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,346,492 and 4,223,417 issued to Solow. The Solow patents provide pneumatically driven tufts of bristles that are pushed perpendicularly against a person""s teeth. One problem with the Solow patents is that the tuft of bristles stops when bristles impact the teeth. It is therefore easy for a few bristles to contact the teeth and slow down or even stop the action of the piston preventing the rest of the bristles to contact the teeth. As such, the Solow patents fail to provide an adequate means to brush a user""s teeth.
Since the advent of mechanical toothbrushes other means have been provided to assist or augment the cleaning or rinsing of the user""s teeth, such as the use of water to pick at, spray, or rinse the teeth. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,429 uses a water jet in combination with a mechanical toothbrush. The motor used to move the bristles is also used to pump water from an outside source, not contained within the toothbrush. The water is pumped from the outside source through the neck of the toothbrush and out of the head of the toothbrush at a user""s teeth. U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,010 incorporates a toothbrush that is tethered to a faucet to provide a stream of water for rinsing. Various problems in these and other similar prior art water jet toothbrushes are the fact that the toothbrush must be tethered or connected to an outside source of water.
As such there still exists the need to provide a user with a completely portable handheld self-contained toothbrush that properly assists the user in brushing their teeth. The toothbrush should provide an effective means of augmenting the user""s technique in brushing their teeth, by providing a toothbrush that incorporates moving bristles. Such a toothbrush should further eliminate the need for intricate or complicated means to move the bristles. The toothbrush may further provide the ability for the user to spray water on the teeth to assist the cleaning or rinsing of the teeth, without the need for tethering the toothbrush to an outside source of water and/or other power supply.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention a handheld portable self-contained toothbrush is provided that incorporates an on-board pump that a user may use to force or pump fluid, especially air into a storage means or reservoir. Repeatedly pumping by the user will pressurize the air there-inside. The reservoir is attached to a pneumatic motor, which when activated, utilizes the pressurized air inside the reservoir to move a plurality of bristles that are in communication therewith. As long as there remains pressurized air inside the reservoir the pneumatic motor will move the bristles. When the air is exhausted or there is insufficient amount of pressurization to operate the pneumatic motor, the movement the bristles slows or stops. The user may then repeat the process by pumping air back into the reservoir for continued use. In the present invention, the reservoir may be any type of holding facility such as a plastic or metal bottle or a latex bladder.
In another embodiment, a toothbrush is provided with an on-board pump that is used to pressurize a refillable chamber of water. The pressurized water may then be sprayed out of the toothbrush to assist in cleaning the user""s teeth.
In yet another embodiment, a toothbrush is provided with an on-board pump to pressurize a chamber of air and to pressurize a refillable chamber of water. The pressurized air is used to operate a pneumatic motor that is in communication with and moves a plurality of movable bristles. The pressurized water exits the head of the toothbrush such that the user may also use the pressurized water to help clean or rinse their teeth.
The present invention may also incorporate a means for starting the movement of the bristles, such as a mechanism that when depressed allows the pneumatic motor to begin moving the bristles. Such a starting means will help prevent the pneumatic motor from running while the user is pressurizing the fluid contained in the toothbrush. However, other starting means may be employed, as further mentioned in the Detailed Description of the Invention, hereinbelow.